With about nine weeks until the November election, El Paso groups are gearing up for the city's $473 million quality-of-life bond issue.

Baseball, it appears, will not make passing the city's largest referendum an easy home run.

"There's an understanding that there's controversy, uncertainty and turbulence ahead, but we are also confident that El Paso will think outside the box and that on Nov. 6 we will celebrate a giant step forward," said Rick Horrow, a nationally known consultant who last year was hired by the Paso del Norte Group and the Downtown Management District to help develop the city's bond issue and Downtown revitalization efforts.

REPORTER

Cindy Ramirez

Two bond proposals will be on the Nov. 6 ballot for voters to consider: $245 million to improve and build parks, pools and community centers and to enhance the zoo; and $228.25 million to improve museums and libraries, including a new children's museum and a multipurpose arts and cultural center.

If both bond propositions pass, the property tax rate could increase gradually each year until 2023, when it is expected to reach $39.50 more a year for a home valued at $100,000. Senior citizens would be exempt from the extra tax, officials said.

Another proposal on the ballot, perhaps the most controversial, is an increase in the hotel-occupancy tax to help fund a Downtown baseball park.

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The city has agreed to build the $50 million ballpark for the Triple-A baseball team being bought by a group of local investors, but voters have to approve the financing method. The hotel tax would pay for about 70 percent of the $50 million ballpark, with the remainder paid with stadium rental fees, ticket surcharges, and parking and state sales tax revenues, among others, city officials said.

If the proposed hotel-tax increase is defeated at the polls, the city would have to find other ways to pay for the ballpark. City officials have said the ballpark is considered a sports venue for economic development and cannot be financed through property taxes. Other revenue sources that make up the city's general fund -- such as sales taxes and franchise fees -- could be used to finance the venue. Property tax dollars would have to be shifted to pay for other city operations, which could then require a tax increase, city officials said.

The city already plans to use certificates of obligation --bonds that don't require voter approval but are repaid with tax dollars -- to relocate city operations and employees.

And that appears to be a sticking point.

Opposing views

"We haven't taken a position on the quality-of-life bond," said Ray Rojas, a local attorney with the Quality of Life Voters for Democracy. The grass-roots group is circulating a second petition asking that all quality-of-life issues, such as the ballpark, go before voters. Its first petition fell 124 signatures short of the required number.

"We think the lack of transparency that we've seen in the city may have endangered (the bond passing), but we are not stating a position on that yet," Rojas said.

Lifelong El Paso resident Renee De Leon, 58, said he's also undecided how he will vote on the bond issue.

"It's hard to separate the issues because it's not about whether we want baseball or neighborhood parks," De Leon said. "It's about whether we trust our city leaders to be open and honest about what they're doing with our money."

It's people like De Leon whom the El Paso Tomorrow Political Action Committee hopes to reach.

The PAC this week is kicking off its campaign to market and support the quality-of-life bond issue through community meetings, presentations, fliers, posters, billboards, phone banks and more.

"We hope people will not sacrifice and feel they will not support the other projects because they feel they were snubbed by the ballpark issue," said PAC Chairman Leonard "Tripper" Goodman. The PAC started as an advisory board that worked to ensure that capital projects that could spur economic development were included in the bond.

"We hope that they see that the ballpark, like the quality-of-life bond, is imperative for the city to move forward," Goodman said.

Local banker Luis Talavera, 34, said he is working to educate others about what it could mean to the city's future. He and some colleagues plan to launch a grass-roots social media campaign supporting the bond as soon as next week.

"We want to highlight the positives and showcase how the bonds will positively impact El Paso," he said. "I believe that we are at a pivotal point in which we can truly impact the quality of life in the city for years to come; we are at the tipping point of changing the city's perception of itself.

"The public is not well-informed and a lot of naysayers are piggy-backing on people's lack of information," added Talavera, the father of two children. "I think people would support the bond and the ballpark if they were educated on the issues."

A national perspective

Horrow, the consultant who helped Oklahoma City rebuild its Downtown, said that as part of his work, he will use his national media connections to talk about El Paso's plan for the future, though not exclusively about baseball.

"November 6 is just the beginning, not the end," said Horrow, president of the facility development consulting firm Horrow Sports Ventures. Known as the "Sports Professor," Horrow is also a national sports business analyst for a number of radio and TV shows, including CNN and Fox Sports.

"We are in an arms race," he said, adding that the bond issue will help set the pace of El Paso's growth over the next two decades. "The citizens have asked for a diverse, comprehensive, well-funded set of initiatives. Here it is."

Horrow said it's a normal and natural process for people to oppose change. The next nine weeks, he said, are crucial for everyone to make their case.

Horrow said El Paso's credit ratings, as well as the population base of the region, make it the right time for this kind of referendum.

"There are very few cities around the country today that are capable of doing this," he said.

Across Texas, voters approved more than $1.5 billion in bond issues in May, including a $596 million bond in San Antonio for streets and drainage, parks and recreation, and other community initiatives.

Houston will have a $410 million bond issue on the November ballot, which if approved by voters will pay for capital repairs to city-owned buildings; rebuild and expand police and fire stations, libraries and parks; and demolish blighted properties to make way for new affordable housing.

Houston officials have said the bond would not require a tax increase -- unless its city council decides at a later date that it's necessary, according to news reports.

El Paso voters last approved a quality-of-life bond in 2000, when $140 million was earmarked for more than 100 projects, including a major zoo expansion and improvements to parks and recreation centers citywide.

Timing is everything

"The question is always, 'Is this the right time?' " Horrow said. "For El Paso, it is the right time."

Though he hasn't been directly involved with the baseball team acquisition, Horrow said it's all part of the plan to revitalize Downtown and enhance parks and other community amenities citywide.

The MountainStar Sports group has received all but final approval from the Pacific Coast League and Minor League Baseball to bring the Tucson Padres, which are affiliated with the San Diego Padres, to El Paso.

To accommodate the team and relocate city operations, the city is in negotiations to purchase the El Paso Times building and the two parking lots that sandwich it, as well as another building on Texas Avenue. The purchase of the properties, as well as the ballpark contract with MountainStar, could be finalized during the Sept. 11 City Council meeting.

Final approval from the Pacific Coast League would come after those final negotiations, officials said.

Horrow said great parks, museums, entertainment venues -- and sports -- are strong selling points for industry and tourists to come to El Paso. The real change, however, happens through public-private partnerships in communities that are willing to step up to the plate, he said.

"Nobody is going to be charitable to El Paso. You need to go out and earn it," he said.